Dance Dance Reprobation

[magicademymods]

The Twilight Ball Arrival The Promenade has been transformed. Literally. With Modification. Ha ha. Cough. Crickets. Toad familiars eat the crickets. Circle of life. Animals bow before singing lions. You get the idea. Neither tree nor stone form the Promenade now. It is instead a long bridge over a shallow and brilliant pool, the gentle ripples of which catch the afternoon sun and scatter it into a million highlights that play over the Great Hall, the bridge, and those who walk down it. There is no formal receiving line, merely a gentle procession of people across the bridge at whatever speed feels comfortable, slowly making their way to the Great Hall. The Great Hall itself has been enchanted to be completely invisible while one is inside it, save for the outline of doors so people can actually find their way out through means other than smacking their noses into the invisible walls till they find a place with no resistance. Thus the twilight for which the ball is named will show all around the dancers, while they are protected from any errant breezes, faint hints of rain, or slime monsters that might otherwise threaten the festivity. Come in. Find your date and get comfortable. The fun is just beginning. Let the Revels Begin After Headmaster Birony welcomes everyone with a speech about she's going to get on her boat, go upriver, and kick that sonuvabitch Bison's ass so HORDT that the next Bison-wannabe is gonna feel it, the dance formally begins with a peppy number designed to get people out and moving. The orchestra here comprises some of the finest players available anywhere in the world, thanks to the whole Valhudor shtick and graduates of said house, and the music is infectious as it drifts through the slowly-darkening air. But as the dance progresses, they play something for everyone. Martial waltzes and slow dance ballroom numbers. Powerful tunes to lose yourself in, and gentle melodies that slip beneath conversation and encourage intimacy and closeness. Professors Trammel and King treat everyone to an exhibition of what an Earth resident might call 'swing dancing on amphetamines' and many students do call 'the closest I have ever come to death'. No pause for speeches, no announcements or interruptions -- just a steady stream of music, bringing dates and lovers together in dance, as the sun sets and casts the room into gentle and romantic twilight. Also a dolphin and a whale are swimming through the floor and they, too, are unmistakably dancing. If this is the weirdest thing you've seen all night, you need your eyes checked. "Food! One of the food tables has been discreetly slid against a wall, where it positively shudders under the weight of a massive buffet open to everyone. The food here tends towards the light, such as fish and vegetables, cucumber sandwiches and thin-sliced meats. Things that will give you energy without weighing you down, so you can keep dancing till the dawn comes. At one end of the table, an owl the size of a cupboard sits on a perch, serenely watching the varied drinks laid out for consumption. 'Spiking the punch' is so cliche that no one is going to pretend it won't happen or the students will behave on their honor, so here you get a chaperone. Even so, this whole area is a popular gathering spot for those between dances or partners, drawing steady attention throughout the night. Meanwhile, Elsewhere Shockingly, not everyone has found that loving feeling, asked out an attractive someone, and gone to the dance with romance on their minds. The rest of the campus, and of course Anastara itself, remain open as normal... and perhaps even less-minded than normal. The faculty, the familiars, the cleaning golems -- almost all attention is on the dance itself. If there's mischief to manage, now would be the perfect time... or just something else besides wallflowering and missing out. Wait, Wasn't There a Ghost Dragon and an Off-Brand Shoggoth? Professor King managed to find a way around the protoplasmic ooze's resistance to magic and splatted it (with no small amount of help from students and faculty!). The dragon disappeared into the caverns beneath the Magicademy. That certainly isn't ominous and won't inspire anyone to go down there, will it? Don't fall in the river down there. Please don't fall in the river.

Comments

[pawper]

Huh....yeah, I guess it's not all that—

[a pause as she swiftly inhales five sandwiches in one go, making sure to swallow the lot before continuing]

—fancy, right? Nothing's been set on fire or dipped in gold. [...Hm.] Unless someone else ate it all before I got here, maybe.

[woo_oo]

[... That raises about six questions.]

I don't think so? I made sure to come here early, just in case. It's my first dance!

[pawper]

[Hey, eating gold is totally a thing that happens at fancy parties!.....or at least that's what she's been told before, and has believed it ever since. (Because clearly that's the thing prompting questions here, yep.) ]

Oh, you too? [Turning just slightly to face Webby, as basic courtesy demanded, Lys automatically swipes up an olive-and-cheese-and-ham shish kebab before it can tumble off the peak of Food Mountain, stripping it clean with all the perfunctory efficacy of a garbage disposal.] What were you expecting, then?

[woo_oo]

[She looks back at the food table with longing. Man, the Luck Vampire really spoiled a lot of things.]

Maybe some fancy chocolates, chocolate covered fruits, a gigantic chocolate fountain I could dip my entire head into...

[pawper]

A whole fountain, huh?

[That sounded good. Really good. So good that if it had existed, she'd be right there dipping her head into it alongside Webby — though maybe not while in her super secret doggy form. Because secrecy, and also that pesky inability to digest chocolate.]

Dunno if I could swing that, but a regular bowl of it for dipping and pouring should be easy enough... [Balancing her overloaded plate in one hand, Lys takes out the feather she favors for quick spellwork and rapidly traces a few sigils in the air: a giant bowl of melted chocolate materializes toot sweet (if one pardoned the pun) upon the buffet table.] ...there! How's that taste?

[woo_oo]

...

[She didn't know that was possible.

also-]

I OFFICIALLY DECLARE YOU THE LIFE OF THE PARTY!

[FUCK YEAH!!!! GRABBING SOME SANDWICHES TO DIP IN AND SCARF DOWN!!!]

[pawper]

[Lys being Lys, learning to conjure food was one of the first spells she had tried, only to quickly discover that magic wasn't necessarily an ideal solution to hunger pangs: even the simplest morsels took time and energy to create from nothing, while complex dishes were so far outside her skill range that they invariably tasted awful. Which could be coped with after a fashion, but not the food poisoning that followed after.

She sees no reason to mention any of that, though. Why ruin the moment?]

Me? Nah, anyone could do that!

[She also dips the edge of a sandwich into the bowl, just enough to get a taste. Hm.....yeah, that was chocolate all right. Not bad!]

[woo_oo]

[She's going to keep grabbing random foodstuffs and shoving them in the chocolate before shoving them into her mouth.]

THIS IS THE BEST PARTY NOW AND WE HAVE YOU TO THANK!

[Indoor voice, webs, plz.]

[pawper]

[Looking on approvingly as she goes back to munching from her own plate — better to be yelled at, especially happily, than ignored or scolded — though with a dim air of befuddlement. She's not used to being shown approval in return.]

Ehehe.....if I knew you liked sweet things so much, I'd have have brought some with me.

[woo_oo]

Oh, I love it! Most of my life, I wasn't allowed to have any.

But now that I am allowed, it's an endless sugar and hamburger party!

[Which probably raises a few questions...]

[pawper]

Hamburgers are good.

[She could go for a hamburger about now.....or two, or twelve. But let's not get sidetracked!]

You weren't allowed to have sweets? [Her first (and in all honesty, inevitable) thought is that there hadn't been enough to go around. After a beat Lys ventures, unsure:] ....strict parents?

[woo_oo]

Kind of? My Granny is super protective over me. She's seen some scary stuff around the world, so she wanted to protect me from everything... by making sure I didn't get to do anything.

But!

[Cheerful smile!]

After Uncle Scrooge began taking me on adventures, she really began to loosen up and trust me!

[pawper]

[Oh, well. That's a (mostly) reassuring answer, and certainly brings a smile to her face. Tinged with wistfulness, sure, but otherwise bright and sincere.]

Sounds like she really loves you! Maybe a little.....too much? Kinda? [because really, not letting a KID have SWEETS?? granny why!!] But it's good she came around eventually. Worrying like that, it's bad for the heart.

[Before her mind can fully turn to thoughts of less-than-stellar parental figures, or dwell overlong on the fact that Webby hadn't actually mentioned any parents at all — Lys can sense them tilting in that direction, like flowers turning toward a blistering, withering sun — she scarfs down another sandwich and asks, casual:]

What kind of adventures, if you don't mind me asking?

[woo_oo]

[OH BOY. She grins, more than ready to share.]

All kinds! Saving the world's luckiest man from a luck-eating vampire, traveling to an ancient hidden city in the pyramids, climbing the world's tallest mountain, deep-sea diving to the lost city of Atlantis...

[She can, and will, go on and on and on.]